The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1887-1896, 1887-03-20
WITH JUDGE LYNCH.


ing in July, when the Jury in the little court
house of Toros City, New Mexico, adjourned to
private room In the saloon hard by to con
slider their verdict. They had been busy all day
trying a criminal case that excited considerable
interest In the settlement OF which Toros was
the centre, aud they were very tired and thirsty.
II had been no joke to sit In hot room for ten
hours ut stretch, listening TO sharp-tongucd
attorneys cross-examining witnesses, and per-
Grating by the hour; but the ordeal was over at
last, and the jury had now only TO make up
their minds as to their verdict, and go their
ways rejoicing.
Ten minutes passed. Easily and swiftly sped
half that number of whisky cocktails down the
throats Of the weary twelve. Then they looked
at the foreman questioningly
"Cientlcmen," said that worthy tossing down
sixth tumber with n sigh of satisfaction, "arc
we all agreed on this little mattcre"
at Is possible, boss !" was the ironical reply
from two or three jurors, while the rest drummcd
their glasses in acquiescence.
The foreman cleared his throat generously,
and frowncd. "Then, gentlemen, I understand
you to be unanimously of opinion that Sam
Goblet and Jim Grobe, accused by Tom
Hanson of the murder of his brother Ed'ard,
are"
'Not guilty" All twelve Joined in this re-
spouse, unceremoniously interrupting the
smooth flow of their forcman's words. lie
looked somewhat taken aback at this extreme
unanimty and ,wirled heavy mustache un-
easily.
,"Wel," he continued in slightly sulky
manner, "f this is our idea we'd better say so, /
s'pose."
They trooped back TO the courthouse.
considerable number of people were gathered
there. Throughout the day these folk had
come and gone, but now every inch of space
was taken up, excepta small half-circle below
the raised platform, where the Judge was en-
throned in large cane-bottomed chair This
gentleman was thoughtfuly stirring savory
compound of beaten egg, brandy, and milk,
known us egg-nog, which he swallowed ut n
draught upon the temperance of the Jury.
If the foremans manner nervous in the
iury's retiringroom, 1t was painfully as he
took his seat In the courthouse aud became the
cynosurc of. oil eyes. But as the Judge asked
the usual question, the man gathered himself
together, faced the people boldly, and gave the
verdict in loud and emphatic tonc-"Not
guilty"
smiled and nodded and filled himself another
tumbler of egg-nog. The spectators of the trial
looked at each other with reflection of the
foreman's uneasiness on their faces, and walked
slowly out, discussing In no measured terms the
various aspects of the events Of the day.
Toros City was at this time in that primitive
stage of development expressed by the title of
"Railway Town." that Is to say, the railway
depot was the most important establishment fl
it.. Three months before the "city'' had been
a''station,' and consisted of two buildings
only-one, combining the four qualities of hotel,
poet office, restaurant, and saloon, the other
general shop or store, from which everything
necessary to the comfort and well -being of n
Western man could be procured. Between
these two mansions the stage coach, running
from Santa Fe to Trinidad, stopped once week,
and for many years was the only medium of
communication between Toros and the East
westward reached this station, and In n few
days 1t was transformed into 'city," us only
village on the American frontier can be- The
rude railway station and telegraph office were
scarcely In working order ere whole street of
small shops was created, dubbed Grand ave-
nue., and crowded daily by the most extraord-
nary mixture of nationalitics ever beheld In the
Frenchmen, Spaniards, Italians, Mcxicans,
Indians, Chinese, and negroes, all were to be
seen there, besides every grade of American,
from the lanky New-Englander to the swarthy
West Virginian. Such was TorOs Mt the time
of whice write, some eight years ago. Our
friends, the jurymcn, were the owners of the
aforesaid small shops; the judge, landlord of
wooden structure of three stories, which had
been built four weeks.
There was one fact about this trial worth
noting here. rs 1t formed the subject of much
comment among the gossips of the place. The
oldest inhabitant of the town, Joseph Cartright,
owner of the old storc-which had stood oppo-
site the saloon for ten years past-n man much
respected In the settlement, had not taken any
part in the business. TWAS known that he was
personal friend of Tom Hanson, the prose-
cutor, and 1t was said that he had refused to
become Il iuryman on that ground. Neverthc-
less, people shook their heads and raised their
eyebrows significantly when he came into court,
mere spectator. Be this as 1t may, Josh Cart
rights grim face did not betray the least emo
lion us the verdict was given.
| gttiuu opnOstte tn him. with n "
of Indignation In my heart at the acquittal Of
the prisoners. which could only be realized by
my readers had they heard the strong evidence
brought forward by the prosecutors attorney,
and the scurrlous abuse of Hansons character,
as false as It was bitter with which 1t was met
by the defense ! knew Cartright well; lie
had been very kind to me a year before, when
reached Toros, raw .'tcnderfoot," torcly in
need of wise advice and sympathy. When the
court rose walked with him to the door, and
then, obeying sudden impulse gave vent to
my Indignation at the verdict
s'Mr Cartright, what on earth does thi,
mean' These men are guilty The jury mus
2 he mad !"
& ~ guess not, Pat. They've the reputation
of.beng level-hcaded lots
'!And they call this iusticcg"
SIT is the law"
Cartrighrs manner and my own were IN
strange contrast. lie was cold as al iceberg
j was IN heated state of intense perplexit!
and irritation. knew many OF the settler
about Toros, and Ind always found them fai
anu Jtlhb III tlelT uehllIlkb WIN enCn OtncT. y
man might fail in business, and owe none.
right and left, but as long us he stayed In TIL
nelghborhood and did his best to work himsel
back into state of solvency no one dreamt o
touching any of his property. They would al
wait patiently for their money, and may say
perhaps, rarely failed To gel II. Again, II
poor nnchman was robbed of his horse, III
neghbors would form posse In a twinklinG
and chase the thief night and day till the
secured him, and then, short shrfft for In
poor wretch. For DEMONSTRATING Of that Dc
scrption was capital crime. And yet, in III
very midst of such a community ms this, gla
Ing piece Of injustice was allowed 10 pass wit
the off-hand remark that sit was the law.
Greater surprises than this, however, were |
store for me. Cartright had only Just delivere
himself Of the above reply. when he shoe
hands with man who had followed us froI
the courthouse. | knew him well, lie wa
the widest character In the settlement, MIN
Alison, the desperate.
have not space TO mention, In the way III
subject merits, the exact meaning of this rath'
ambiguous title, desperate" In the prcser
instance II signihed that this Mike Alison WI
famed for extreme recklessness In COUNT
where the primitiveness Of society requir,
every man to carry loaded firearms habitua
and at certain times of the year TO treat his pc
sonal safety as a thing of no account whateye
To record the risks 10 life and limb this ma
voluntarily encountered in one calendar mont
would I'LL a volume equal In excitement to Al
of Capt. Maync He'd stories. lie was q hOrs
breaker OF extraordinary skin and success
His shooting was marvellous. have seen hi
split the stalk OF suniowcr ut twenty var,
distance with a revolver, and put four hol
through an old tomato-can which i had throw
into the air before II touched the ground.
for his courage, the Sheriff of Toros, who kne
Mike Alison we'll expressed the strength Of II
mans nerve In sufficiently graphic manu-
r. when he said, In answer to a query from
curious stranger: "Courage--pshaw VIII
that cuss would walk up To the mouth Of
cannon, when they were applying the mate
az cool as you'd eat your dinncrn
Such WAS Mike Alison. am sorry 10 ii
that he was something more--and II was u
fact which caused me TO open my eyes wi
when Cartrght shook hands with him. MI
Alison was horse-stealcr, and at the very Il